Posted on 04/23/2008 4:34:57 PM PDT by Anti-Bubba182
A Phoenix man says he caused the red light display that mystified thousands of people as it floated across the north Phoenix sky Monday night.
Click here for photos of the lights over Phoenix
The man, who did not want to be identified, said he used fishing line to attach road flares to helium-filled balloons, then lit the flares and launched them a minute apart from his back yard. He said he believed turbulence created by a passing jet caused the balloons to move around.
Lino Mailo said he saw his next-door neighbor launch the balloons.
``I saw the guy releasing the balloons with the flares on them," Mailo said. ``There is no doubt that they came from here."
He added, ``I don't think it's a cool prank because it can panic people."
Phoenix Police helicopter pilot Bruce Bates, who saw the lights, said the balloons explanation makes sense.
``People say they saw different shapes -- a square, a diamond, an arrow, all these different shapes. Well, that's just the balloons moving around in the wind currents," he said.
Some people will always think the lights were UFOs, Bates said.
``I think people want to believe what they want to believe." ................."
(Excerpt) Read more at ktar.com ...
Timing is everything.
It’ll be interesting to see who comes to claim it.
Maureen O’Dowd the other day called Hillary the attack of the 50 foot woman. Has Hillary been in Phoenix?
Oops! Scratch the last ET ping.
For something.
When I was much younger, we used to make hot air balloons from a dry cleaner’s dress bag, balsa sticks, and birthday candles.
Once or twice we saw reports of UFO’s in the local paper the next day. Once it was reported as klan activity (the birthday candles were placed with several on each of two crossed balsa sticks, a “burning cross”).
Similar to this: http://www.overflite.com/
I heard about the laundry bag trick.
yeah, we did that a couple of times, too. but then I discovered model rockets, and I could never go back.
I have to wonder about this though as the lights were on the news out here in Phoenix and were in a square formation, which then changed to a triangular formation, all caught on film.
Not saying UFO but there are always people who want to claim they are the one, notoriety and all.
How I survived my youth is still a mystery.
awesome stunt...his neighbor is a pissflap
I saw one of those dry cleaning bag devices in LA a bunch of years ago....I contacted my friend at the FD to inquire if there were any reports...nope....
then one landed somewhere in LA and burned down a house.
took me a while to learn what it was.....certainly did look like a ufo
Are you sure you survived? =) j/k
A few yrs back I stuck a lit roman candle in a round hole in a cave-then with sudden insight AFTER I lit it; I thought that could be a hole for dynamite that did not go off.I ran like a bat outta you know where. Nothing went off but
I have common sense but those qualities desert me at times. Just like Wile E Coyote.
We never burned anything we knew of, but my buddy's brother nearly set his neighbors house on fire with a liquid fueled test model. It turned upside down and poured burning alcohol all over.
Luckily, we were immortals back then (and stupid if you were like me)
We have to have SOME standards in this field!
LOL.
I didn’t think it sounded authentic from the beginning but didn’t examine it that closely at the time.
This reminds me of a stunt I did in college, flying a kite at night with a light bulb dangling from the tail. Only the light could be seen. Cars stopped for blocks around.
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